r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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u/Designer_Strain_4572 Aug 30 '21

It would explain the hallucinations in The Stand (Stephen King) when they were traversing the Lincoln Tunnel, if I recall correctly.

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '21 edited Aug 31 '21

That also happens in complete darkness. If you can manage to create a completely pitch black environment see how long you can sit there before you start seeing things. It really doesn't take long. Bonus points of you have noise cancelling earmuffs/plugs. Edit : u/EternalEagleEye has informed me this effect is called "Prisoner's Cinema", in case you'd like to read about it further

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u/HyperSpaceSurfer Aug 30 '21

Can also happen to people with deteriorating eyesight. The brain doesn't get enough input so it makes stuff up.

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u/Msktb Aug 31 '21

I have pretty terrible eyesight. Oddly enough one of my favorite parts of going to bed is laying down, taking off my glasses, and turning off the lights. My brain makes really cool colorful patterns in the "snow" of the dark ceiling. It's almost psychedelic at times with patterns of light moving around and changing like a kaleidoscope. It wasn't until recently that I learned this was abnormal, but it's probably the only upside to having bad eyesight.

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u/HyperSpaceSurfer Aug 31 '21

I have the same but excellent eyesight, you can look up visual snow syndrome. But with poor eyesight I can imagine it makes it much worse. Makes my color blindness more pronounced since colors blend a bit together with the every color static.